Combination musical instrument.



I. E. MARSH.

COMBINATION MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-2,1916

Patented Feb. 12,1918.

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COMBINATION MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2| I9l6- Patented Feb. 12,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- "unitrnn s'rnrns PATENT anion.

IRA EDWIN MARSH, 0F NEWARK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DW .Y ER BROS. 8a 00., OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

COMBINATION MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

Application filed March 2, 1916. Serial No. 81,706.

7 '0 all "whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA EDWIN MARSH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Combination. Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to improvements in combination musical instruments designed to enable said instruments to be played synchronously and harmoniously or each independently of the other.

To best obtain a comprehension of the ob jects to be attained by my invention, it is here noted that I am aware of the fact that it has been. heretofore proposed to produce a combination of nuisical instruments as above broadly indicated, but this has been done generally by devising a special construction of the instruments themselves involving considerable expense in their manufacture and greatly sacrificing simplicity of cooperative parts. Hence, it has been my primary object to provide means capable of attachment to standard instrumentalities of one type of instruments for operating av second instrument of a different type by means of said instrumcntalities whereby to permit of the conjoint or independent actuation, as hereinbefore premised.

More specifically speaking in carrying out the invention I employ an attachment arranged in cooperati e relation with respect to a. piano action operable thereby to control the pressure actuating devices of a. pipe organ, means also being provided for quickly connecting and disconnecting the attachment so that one of said instruments only may be played, at the will of the operator.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically de scribed and claimed. Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a piano of conventional type having my attachment applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the attachment and its cotiperating parts.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a port block used in this apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing more clearly the arrangement of the valve operating means constituting the main feature of this invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the organ actuating instrumentalities combined with my operating means for playing the organ.

Fig. 6 is a detail view.

Throughout the following detail description, and on the several figures of the draw ings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

In addition to the foregoing general remarks as to the objects of this invention, it may also be stated that there exists at the present time a demand, among motion picture houses, for instance, for some means for producing pipe organ effects, and this without employing an automatic or mechanically operated instrument, and as will be seen in the following description, this demand is met by providing an or an played and controlled by the pianist from the manually operated keyboard of a piano.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a piano case of conventional type, 2 the piano action therefor and 3 its manually operable piano keys. To such instrument I apply the operating means which forms the main feature of this apparatus, and which means consists of a suitable supporting bar or rail 4 hingedly mounted upon the supporting brackets 5 intermediate the piano keys 3 and the piano action 2 as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

The rail 4- carries thereupon a plurality of port blocks 6 attached to the rail in any suitable manner and projecting from its rear edge slightly so as to bring a spring 7 secured to the surface of each block directlv adjacent to a sticker 8 of the piano act-ion. Each valve block is provided with a vent tube 9 normally held closed by the spring '7 which is suitably washered at 7 so as to aiford a proper closing means to prevent the escape of pressure which is'led to the port blocks 6 through the operating ducts or pipes 10. It. will be understood that there is provided one of these port blocks for each piano sticker for a suitable number of octaves of the piano action to properly carry out the object of this invention, and each of said port blocks is provided with one of the operatin ducts 10 as above referred to communicating with the organ actuating instrumentalities hereinafter more particularly described. Each of the piano stickers S is provided with a projection of any desired form as indicated at 11 arranged beneath the Pro ecting extremity of the spring 7 so that it may cooperate therewith when the sticker is operated by the piano key for the purpose of venting the proper duct oi the organ action. The rail a and its port blocks, for convenience of description will be hereinafter referred to, as the valve attachment and this attachment is designed to be operated by the pianist so as to operatively connect or disconnect the same to produce the combined or independent action of the organ and the piano as will now be described.

Arranged beneath the bedl2 of the piano is a lever 13 pivotally mounted at Ll intermediate its length. The rear end of this lever is connected by the rod 15 to one end of the valve attachment and by means of this bar or lever the rail el may be raised so as to move the valve springs 7 out of the path of the sticker projections ll thereby preventing the operating ducts 1-) m being opened or exhausted.

re pianist, being norma at its outer end piano action when the organ is played.

so positioned as to be readily ope ted bv 16 for holding tne valve attachment crown bar. however. is provided with a sorin l v hel l the knee of ti 1 ov a spring actuated catch in operative position with relation to the so that when relieved from the atch 16, said lever will be automatically depresset at its outer end to raise the valve attachmentin the manner hcreinbel ore set forth when the organ not played. Referring now to Fi observed that the opei lug ducts 10 leading from the valve attachment communicate with an organ valve action chest 18 which is located at convenient place with re SIGCt to the piano. 1 desire it to be understood that the organ instrumentalities are shown in the drawings conventionally and they are subject to arrangement or disposition with reference to the piano as may be required in the particular installation or this element r 'Hie valve action chest is provided with l and 5, will he 1 preiera'oiv valve 2% covering the pipe port. This valve is carried at one end of a lever suitably supported upon the upper wall 01" the chest by the bracket 26 and having a spring 2- arranged to hold the valve 2st normally in closed position. The other end of the lever 25 has connected thereto a valve rod 28 extending through the bottom of the wind chest and terminating at its lower end in superposed relation to a pouch 29 on the upper surface of the organ action chest 18. Said pouch covers a passage 30 in the chest and with which a lateral passage 31 communicates at one end. The other end of the passage 31 communicates with the air passage 32 which is provided with a conventional form of double valve t3 consisting of the upper valve disk 3t and the lower valve disk adapted to be alternately c: ed on the ends of the air passage to establish communication between the cl'iannel 31 and either the atmosphere or the pressure chamber 19. This valve 33 is held by the air pressure in the chamber 19 with the passage 32 closed and a spring 36 connected to said valve assists in the Quick action of the va ve in a manner readily understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention refers. The lower end of the valve is connected to a diaphragm 37 arranged over a small recess with which one of the opcrating ducts 1O communicates. Air pressure is supplied from the chamber 19 to the 38 by the pin hole feed or passage so that the pressure causes the diaphragm to normally assume the position shown in Fin.

With the foregoing description in view the cycle of a single operation ill now be set forth. Upon the depressirn of a piano key 3 the respective sticker 8 of the piano lCtlOn coacting therewith will be raised and by reason 01" the. normal position of the valve attachment a spring 7 of a port bltck 0 will also be s multaneously actuated. The pres sure in th duct 10 leading from the recess 38 beneath the diapl :agm 3? of the corresponding organ element will be released causing the sudden collapse of said diaphragm and the s multaneous unseating of the valve immediately allowing the pressure frtm the clnmber 19 to pass through the channel 31 to the pouch thereby raising the pouch and the valve rod 28 liually ac rating the lever and opening the organ pipe valve Ql whereupon this pipe is sounded. This action takes place obviously throughout the playing of the piano so that said piano and organ are simultaneously operated. lVhen it is desired to disconnect the organ either permanently or temporarily, the pianist releases the outer end of the lever 13 from its catch, causing the valve rail 4 to be lifted and the port blocks moved into a position such as shown in dotted lines Fig. 2 where they are out of the path of actuation by the piano sticker. The piano alone may now be played.

Vhen it is desired to play the organ alone, through the instrumentality of the piano keys, the valve attachment is lowered again into the position hereinbefore ClBSCllbG-Tl, and a mutller rail &0 is lowered in front of the hammers of the piano action so as to prevent sounding of the piano keys. This rail is operated in any desired manner by the pianist such for instance through the instrumentality of a pedal 41 connected by a rod 42 to the lever 43, said lever carrying the muliier rail 40 at its rear extremity. It will thus be apparent that only a single set of operating keys is required to enable the op erator of this apparatus to play either instrument independently or both instruments simultaneously.

()ne of the desirable features of my valve attachment is the factthat it is capable of installation as a unit into a conventional form of piano as hereinbefore mentioned. the operating ducts coacting therewith being led through a small opening in the back of the piano and the supporting parts for the valve attachment being easily attached to the piano case without altering materially the construction of the piano. It follows that where such instrument is usually provided it is not necessary. in installing the combination comprehended by this description, to displace the said conventional piano for any specially constructed one resulting in a con siderable saving of expense by reason of this adaptability.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. The combination with piano stickers and manually operable keys therefor and pneumat c organ instrumentalities, of valve means disposed adjacent to the piano stickers and operable by said stickers for con trolling the organ instrumentalities, and means for shifting the valve means bodily into and out of operative relation with respect to the piano stickers.

2. The combination with a piano action, a keyboard therefor and organ instrumentalities, of detachable members separate from the keyboard and projecting from the action elements operated by the keys of said keyboard, a unitary control device for the organ instrumentalities consisting of an attachment arranged above the keyboard and contiguous to said detachable members in the path of movement thereof when playing the piano, and means for bodily moving the attachment away from the projecting members to render the organ instrumentalities inoperative with respect to those of the piano at the will of the operator.

3. In combination, piano action including vertical hammer actuating members, piano keys therefor, projections on said vertical members, a valve attachment for operating organ instrumentalitics comprising a valve rail pivotally mounted at one side and arranged to cooperate with the projections mentioned, and means for pivotally moving the rail into inoperative position comprising a lever disposed beneath the piano keys and pivoted intermediateits length and a. connection intermediate the lever and the free side of the valve rail whereby the latter may be elevated.

t. In combination, a piano action and keys therefor, organ instrumentalities including a valve action, an attachment for the piano for controlling the operation of said organ instrumentalities comprising a rail arranged adjacent to the piano action, a series of individually separable valve blocks secured to said rail and operable by the piano action elements, means establishing communication between said valve blocks and the organ valve action, and means for raising the rail to render the valve blocks inoperable.

5. In combination, a piano action including vertically arranged stickers, and keys for operating said action, organ instrumentalities including a valve action, a unitary attachment consisting of a valve rail arranged over the rear portion of the piano keys aforesaid, venting instrumentalities carried by said rail and projecting into contiguous coacting relation to the piano action stickers aforesaid, means on said stickcrs adapted to coact with the venting instrumentalities during operation of the piano action keys, and means for lifting the venting instrumentalities out of the path of movement of the means carried by said stickers to render said venting means inoperative.

G. In combination, a piano action and an organ valve action, operating means inter mediate said actions comprising a valve rail, supporting means to which said rail is pivotally connected, means for shifting said valve rail consisting of a lifting member adapted for manual operation, and means for holding said rail in operative and inoperative positions.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

IRA EDWIN MARSH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). C. 

